ALL BLACKS IN ACTION

New Zealand Times, Volume LI, Issue 11934, 15 September 1924, Page 7

ALL BLACKS IN ACTION

OffTEAT INTEREST TAKEN IN FIRST MATCH DEVON COUNTY DEFEATED BY U TO NIL NEW ZEALANDERS PASSING BELOW STANDARD DESCRIBED AS AN “DYER-RATED TEAM ” FORM NOT TRUE INDEX OF FUTURE The first match of the All Blacks’ tour of England took place on Saturday at Devonport, when they beat Devon County by, „n points to ml. The original. All Black, team played Devon at Exeter on September 16th, 1905, New Zealand winning by 55 points to 4. The opinion of critics who- witnessed the match on Saturday is that the present AH Black team is oyer-rated, but New Zealanders who were, present consider--the- exhibition was not a true index of what may be looked for in future contestsBv Teleicr«)ii.— „ Australian. auA N 7.. Calls 'Association {Received ■ September 14, 5.5'pm.)

"RACGEDWSPLAY , ‘ HARD, ROUGH PLAY VISITORS FORCED DOWN TWICE. GROUND PACKED TO OAPACTHf. The AH Black team, opened their totnr to-day -with a match against Daren on the Rectory Ground, at Devonport. The Now Zealanders had a . tremendous reception from a crowd numbering 18,000 which packed the ground to its utmost capacity. The turf was in excellent state, and all conditions were favourable to a first-class game. Devon won the /toss, and All. Blacks, immediately opened up an attack;, but the form displayed on both si<Jes was very ragged. OVER KEENNESS DEVON MAKES GOOD STAND. This was to some extent the result of the over-keenness by the players, which led them into mistakes. The Devon men made' a surprisingly fine stand, and to the general surprise held their adversaries in the eanmmagca. They really made tremendous efforts against such redeubtaMe opponents, but in actual truth there was- tittle finesse, or method, on either side. Half an hour of hard rough play passed before the first score cam®, during which the AR Blanks were mostly in the oountv men's quarters. Some fine passing then put Svenson over, but it was close to the corner, ‘and Nepia failed with the kick 'at goal. All Blacks 3 Devon 0 Shortly after Hanley almost potted a goal for Devon. The inside New Zealand backs then got to work and a bout of good passing, from a scrum, eventually gave Cooke an opening, and he went over. This time Nepia succeeded with his kick. All Blocks 8 Devon 0 This reverse did not discourage the home side, but seemed to harden them up, and the All Blacks were forced down twice in quick succession. The first spell ended with the score unchanged. THE SECOND SPELL ’ AiII, BLACKS COMBINE BETTER. The New Zealanders had underestimated the strength of the forward, opposition, and after the interval they showed increasing cohesion and cleverer play. Svenson following up - his—own —kick pasesed inward to Brown, and the Taranaki representative dashed across the line. Nepia did not convert. There was no further score, and the game ended:— New Zealand H-'" Devon o COMMENTB~ON THE CAME FORWARDS TAKE CHARGE. PASSING NOT UP TO STANDARD. DEVON’S LINE KICKING SLOWS GAME. The forwards more or lesß took charge of the game, and continual scrimmages and loose scrambles seemed to induce rough play on both sides. The passing of the New Zealanders was not up to their usual standard. Although they were generally successful in gaining possession! of the hall from the scrimmages, frequent knockson spoiled their movements and- pro-

LONDON, September 13. Tented them bringing tbeir pairing bouts to 3 successful issue. The Devon players had their turn raw and then and twice came near souring, but the defence held good , and sure collaring stopped their bursts. The frequent use pf the side line by the Devon! backs appreciably slowed up the game, and prevented the visitors giving a spectacular exhibition. The general consensus of opinion is that the New Zealand team is considerably over-rated, Cooke and Svenßon, to-day, were the best of the backs, and Richardson and M, Brown Ke the beat forwarcfe. The New Zealanders had the advantage in weight, but their play VH not convincing. The colonials present were, surprised at the fine-showing made by Devon, but regarded .the All Blacks’ form as .hardly an index of the future. KEEN INTEREST DISPLAYED VISITORS EXEMPLARY CONDUCT. A cable message received on Saturday states that every available seat for the match had been booked for the' All Blacks opening match, and that the critics were awaiting the engagement .with keenest interest, being already highly impressed) by the form shown during training operations, and the men’s exemplary conduct. THE 1924 TOUR ALL BLACKS ENGAGEMENTS. Following are details of the All Blanks) engagements Sept. 13th —v. Devon. Wen 11 to nil. 1903 team. Won 35 to 41 MATCHES TO FLAY. Sept. 18th.—v. Cornwall, at Camborne. Sept. 20th —v. Somerset, at Weeton. Sept. 25th—v. Gloucester. Sept. 27th—v. Swansea. Oct. ,2nd—v. Newport. Oat. 4th —v. Leicester. ' Oct. Bth—v. North Midlands, at Birmingham. Oct. 11th —v. Cheshire, at Birkenhead. Oct. 15th —v. Durham, at Sunderland. . Oct. 18th-—v. Yorkshire, at Bradford. Oct. 22nd—v. Lancashire, at Manchester. Oct. 25th—v. Cumberland, at Carlisle. Nov. 1st —v. Ireland, at Dublin. Nov. oth —v. Ulster, at Belfast. Nov. Bth—v. Northumberland at Newcastle. Nov. 12thr—v, Cambridge’ Varsity. "’Nov. loth—v. London Counties, at Twickenham. Nov. 20th—v. Oxford’ Varsity. Nov. 29th—v. Wales, at Swansea. Dec. 2nd—v. Llanelly. Dec. 6th —v- East Midland, at Northampton. Dec. 10th—v. Warwickshire, at Coventry. Dec, llth —v. Warwickshire, at Coventry (second match). .Dec.. 13th—v. Combined Services, at Twickenham. Deo. 17th—v. Hampshire, at Portsmouth. Dev- 27th—v. London Counties (second match). Jan. 3—v. England, at Twickenham. Between December 17th and 27th two matches may be played in France. SOUTH AFRICAN TEBT GAME ENDS IN DRAW. Keuter’s Telegram (Received September 14, 5.5 p.m.) CAPETOWN, September 13. The British Rugby team’s third Test match against South Africa was drawn. Each side acored“threh points.